Pro Bono News

Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation Update - August 2007

Sunday, August 26, 2007

  • Lex Mundi Foundation
  • Source: New York

Lex Mundi Lawyers at the Forefront of Positive Social Change

A brilliant "social entrepreneur" has perfected a bamboo gasifier that produces cheap electricity in a remote region in India. Local bureaucrats shut it down. The social entrepreneur emails the Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation and within 24 hours a team of lawyers from Amarchand Mangaldas, one of the largest and most prestigious law firms in India, is on the case, ready to negotiate a resolution or initiate a lawsuit-free of charge.

Kiva Microfunds, a "social entrepreneur" that facilitates low-interest micro loans to very poor people needs sophisticated legal advice on currency restrictions and credit regulations in several developing countries. Within hours, the Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation locates top-ranked legal specialists from elite law firms in the Philippines, Dominican Republic, Paraguay, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Indonesia to provide the legal advice-pro bono.

Kyle Zimmer, founder of First Book, an award-winning "social entrepreneur" that distributes millions of books to children throughout the world, has publishing rights issues in New York, Mexico and Colombia. The Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation introduces her to legal experts in each of those places who are willing to work for free.

Who are these lawyers? They are the more than 20,000 lawyers in firms that are members of Lex Mundi, the world's leading association of independent law firms. Lex Mundi has 160 member law firms, consisting of a top-tier firm in the majority of US states, in each Canadian province, and in most countries in the rest of the world. By volunteering their time and expertise to "social entrepreneurs," Lex Mundi and its not-for-profit affiliate, the Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation, are at the forefront of positive social change.

An alternative to massive government aid programs, the social entrepreneurship movement is gaining traction and acclaim as an extremely effective tool for improving the lives of the poor and disenfranchised. The father of the movement, Muhammed Yunus, won the Nobel Peace Prize this year for his life's work in microfinance-showing the world that a private bank could both make a profit and foster economic development by making small loans to very poor women in Bangladesh.

Gaining Momentum: The First 18 Months

Since opening its doors at the end of 2005, the Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation has drawn upon the Lex Mundi network of independent law firms to staff more than 195 separate legal projects for social entrepreneurs. These projects run the gamut, from incorporating a social entrepreneur in the District of Columbia to providing intellectual property protection to a social entrepreneur in South Africa.

Clients and their legal projects come to the Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation from a growing number of organizations that support and endorse social entrepreneurs. In the first 18 months of operation, the Foundation has entered into collaborative arrangements with the following organizations: Acumen, Ashoka, Draper Richards, Echoing Green, European Venture Philanthropy Association, Global Fund for Children, Grameen Foundation, Lemelson Foundation, Mercy Corps, New Zealand Social Entrepreneur Fellowship, NYU Stern School of Business, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, Social Capital Partners, Social Enterprise Alliance, Venture Philanthropy Partners and World Bank Development Marketplace.

In addition, the Foundation has been working with the UN Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, chaired by Madeleine Albright and Hernando de Soto. Lex Mundi firms from several countries have provided research papers and other information to the Commission.

Virtually every member of Lex Mundi has embraced the mission of the Foundation, which is to provide pro bono legal services to social entrepreneurs, thus helping to improve the lives of the poor and disenfranchised. Pro bono legal work is no longer a USA phenomenon. Seeking to be the finest firms in their respective jurisdictions and to exemplify the very best traditions of the legal profession, Lex Mundi member firms almost never turn down a request by the Lex Mundi Foundation to provide pro bono services to an eligible social entrepreneur.

At the beginning, all of the day-to-day work of the Foundation was carried out by Dave Roll, the Managing Director, and a partner in Steptoe & Johnson LLP, Washington DC. In the fall of 2006, Ben Greer, former Chair of Lex Mundi and a recently retired partner of Alston & Bird LLP (Lex Mundi's member firm for Georgia), joined as Vice President and has been devoting 25% of his time to assisting Dave. On September 1, 2007, Chloe Holderness, former corporate associate at McGuireWoods LLP (Lex Mundi's member firm for Virginia), will join the Foundation as full-time Deputy Managing Director. Ms. Holderness has a background in international economic development and earned a joint JD/MBA from the University of North Carolina.

The Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation is extremely grateful to its benefactors: The W.K. Kellogg Foundation; The David and Lucile Packard Foundation; The Shell Foundation; and the Lex Mundi member law firms. Without their financial support, the Foundation would never have gotten off the ground.


Distinguished Board of Advisors

In recent weeks, the Foundation has added new members to its board of advisors who will be providing advice and guidance to the Foundation in the coming years. The Board of Advisors now consists of the following members:

  • Brizio Biondi-Morra-President, Avina, and President of the Board of INCAE
  • Charlie Brown-Executive Director, Ashoka's Changemakers
  • Mary Chaffin-General Counsel, Mercy Corps
  • Cheryl Dorsey-President, Echoing Green
  • Pamela Hartigan-Managing Director, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship
  • Kurt Hoffman-Director, Shell Foundation
  • Melissa Johns-Investment Policy Specialist, World Bank
  • Jacqueline Novogratz-Chief Executive Officer, Acumen Fund
  • Laura Stein-Senior VP and General Counsel, The Clorox Corporation, Vice-Chair and Chair-elect, Association of Corporate Counsel
  • Barry White-Partner, Foley Hoag LLP, former Chair of Lex Mundi


Conference Speakers

At each Lex Mundi conference, the Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation sponsors a program consisting of remarks by one or more inspiring social entrepreneurs or supporting organizations and an update on the work of the Foundation. Since the last e-letter in January 2007, the following distinguished individuals have spoken at Lex Mundi conferences:

  • Sylvia Reyes of Fundación Junto con los Niños (JUCONI), a psychologist who works with street children and their families to break the cycle of poverty and abuse, at the Latin America Regional Conference in Barbados
  • Stephan Seissinger of Kinderzentren Kunterbunt, who founded innovative childcare centers for working parents all over Germany, at the Europe/Middle East/Africa Regional Conference in Munich
  • Mary Chaffin of Mercy Corps, a worldwide organization devoted to the alleviation of poverty and oppression, at the Managing Partners Conference in Paris
  • Victoria Dunning of the Global Fund for Children, who supervises programs all over the world to address child abuse and poverty, and Geoff Cape of Evergreen, who renovates and transforms urban spaces, including the Toronto Brickworks, at the North America Regional Conference in Toronto

On October 12th, at Lex Mundi's Annual and Asia/Pacific Regional Conference in Singapore, Abul Hasanat Mohammed Rezwan will be speaking about his innovative program to educate girls in remote areas of Bangladesh accessible only by boat.

Pro Bono Committee

Apart from the work of the Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation, Lex Mundi has established a Pro Bono Committee, the purpose of which is to encourage and enhance the delivery of pro bono legal services by providing strategic guidance, advice and resources to Lex Mundi firms to help them develop and implement pro bono programs.

The Committee's initial project is to identify and advocate "best practices" in the establishment and administration of pro bono programs for the benefit of all Lex Mundi member firms. Lex Mundi recognizes that in order to maintain its position as the leading association of independent law firms, its firms must have access to the latest and best thinking about how best to set up and operate an effective pro bono program.

Under the leadership of Paul Schabas, partner in the Ontario-based member firm, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, a working group of Lex Mundi lawyers has been appointed to prepare a set of pro bono program best practices and policy guidelines for Lex Mundi firms. The working group consists of the following Lex Mundi lawyers:

  • Lori Braender-Day Pitney LLP (New Jersey, USA)
  • Kevin DiDio-Butzel Long (Michigan, USA)
  • David Geral-Bowman Gilfillan (South Africa)
  • Tripp Greason-Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC (North Carolina, USA)
  • David Hillard-Clayton Utz (Australia)
  • Wendy Neal-Snell & Wilmer L.L.P. (Arizona, USA)
  • Henry Parr-Wyche Burgess Freeman & Parham, P.A. (South Carolina, USA)
  • Benedikt Spiegelfeld-CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati (Austria)

The goal is to have a working draft ready for review at the Lex Mundi North America Regional Conference in Miami in January 2008.